At the Bentonville Public Library, books are just the beginning.

Cards are free for residents of any town in Benton County, Bentonville city employees, Bentonville Schools teachers, Bentonville business owners, and Fayetteville residents through a reciprocal agreement. Others can purchase a nonresident card for $25 per year.

Here are some other ways to use the library:

Why buy a game when you can try it for free? There is a wide range of board and tabletop games available for checkout, including Monopoly: Schitt's Creek Edition, The Game of Life and Really Loud Librarians: A Merciless Word-Shouting Board Game.

There’s also a board game club that meets twice a month at the library. 

Ten Orion StarBlast 4.5" telescopes are available for checkout. These beginner-friendly telescopes are great for viewing the moon as well as planets like Jupiter and Saturn.

The library offers “discovery kits” that can be checked out to explore new activities and skills.

Adult kits include resources for birdwatching, calligraphy, coloring for meditation and drumming. Children’s kits include activities such as bike repair and making friendship bracelets.

Want to see what’s buried in your backyard? The library has metal detectors available for checkout. 

The Digital Lab is a reservable room with equipment for podcasting, photography and video recording. The room also features green screens, sound-dampening walls and adjustable lighting.

The library’s Makerspace is stocked with tools for hands-on projects, including 3D printers, laser cutters, embroidery machines, Cricuts, sewing machines and soldering kits. Equipment is free to use, but you’ll need to pay for some materials. Before using the space, you’ll need to complete a Makerspace 101 orientation. Children age 10 and younger must be with an adult who’s also certified.

Hundreds of video games are available for checkout, including titles for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

There’s also PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Atari, and Playstation consoles that can be reserved in the Digital Lab.

In partnership with the Northwest Arkansas Genealogical Society, the library offers assistance for people researching family history. Trained volunteers are typically available on weekdays to help with research in the William Enfield History & Genealogy Research Room.

There are multiple book clubs that meet at the library on a monthly basis. 

If you’d like to run your own, the library also offers book club kits for more than 200 titles across adult, young adult and children’s literature.

Each kit includes 10 copies of the same book, along with discussion questions and a reading guide. Some kits also include a movie adaptation of the book and/or themed snack suggestions.

Book club kits are checked out for six weeks by one member of the group, who is responsible for returning the kit and all included materials.

The library maintains a curated collection of resources designed to help people through challenging periods in life, including the loss of a pet, a dementia diagnosis or relationship issues. These materials are part of the “Library for Life.”

In addition to physical media available for checkout, the library provides access to several digital streaming services for patrons.

Both services can be used by library card holders at home.

A 211 Cafe location is inside the library, offering drinks and pastries for purchase. 211 Cafe sources its coffee from Guatemala, where its founder lived before moving to Northwest Arkansas in 2016.

The library offers free Wi-Fi that does not require a password or library card.

In addition to desktop computers available throughout the building, laptops can be checked out for use inside the library.

There are several meeting spaces that can be reserved for a fee, with capacity ranging from 6 to 250 people.

These rooms are intended for educational, civic, or work-related uses rather than social events like birthday parties.

The library also has smaller “study rooms” throughout the building that can be used at no cost.

The library has two business centers (located in the Community Hub and Adult Collections) with copying and printing available for a fee. A nifty new feature allows you to send documents to the printer from any computer or smartphone. 

Located just inside the entrance to the library, the Read It Again Bookstore sells new and gently used books, DVDs and other items at low prices. The shop is operated by Friends of the Bentonville Library, with proceeds supporting the library programs and services.